Memories Plucked from the Vine

By Cove Johnson Rabidoux

Memories fly like butterflies on bruised wings,

limply floating up to death’s reach

before falling into a net obscured by the curtain of time.

Clocks tick with age and wonder.

Moments shrivel into chalk like dusty wildflowers left in heavy rain,

rotten like summer peaches, aureate and plump, sucked of life.

Like sour syrup memories drip, drip, drip onto warm concrete,

collapsing into an unknown fate, shaded with amnesia.

The tiny wings sizzle and snap, bodies bent into shadows of darkness

disappearing forever, like pink lips no longer breathing with life,

chapped and shrunken, their glassy eyes devoid of consciousness.

These memories dissolve and dissolve like fruits on the vine,

plucked and savored, but now perished,

weakened by the weight of the years.

Moldy and forgotten, faded vibrant colors.

Scattered and broken like shells on an ocean's shore,

the once fragrant aroma of sweet moments, now still,

slipping through the cracks of forgotten time;

the life within is lost to the ages.

Miss their smell and taste, honey on warm golden skin.

Try to catch them in loose fingers as they fly away on bruised wings,

never to be felt again.

About the Writer...

Cove Johnson Rabidoux is an 11th-grade student at San Francisco University High School. Her work can be found on Teen Ink, The Teen Magazine, The Spearhead Magazine, Hot Pot Magazine, The Trailblazer Literary Magazine, Leaders Across the World, and her blog, Blue Pencil Writing. She serves as a Managing Editor for The Teen Magazine. She also edits for The Trailblazer Literary Magazine, Hot Pot Magazine, and Cathartic Youth Magazine. When she is not writing her novel, Cove enjoys reading, traveling, and baking.

About the Artist...

Eavin Carney is a senior at Savannah Arts Academy. She mainly prefers painting over drawing and enjoys incorporating natural materials in her art.